Coachella Part 2

Ten Things I Learnt at Coachella 2012

1.  While it is usually nice and warm in the desert it does rain sometimes.  This results in the use of scarves as sweaters, huddling for warmth, the purchase of concert t-shirts, and lining up for half an hour for coffee.

2.  I am completely in love with ferris wheels (as evidenced below).

3.  Coachella is definitely one of the most well run music festivals around.  It is a well oiled machine!

4.  Taking a shuttle bus to the grounds is a fantastic way to get pumped up for the day ahead.  They are also a great place to get some shut eye on the way home.

5.  Dancing comes in many forms.  Some hilarious, some adorable, some impressive, all appropriate for Coachella.

6.  Bringing a re-fillable water bottle and filling up at the water stations is both a sound financial decision and a great way to stay hydrated throughout the day.

7.  The most beautiful time of day at the grounds is when the sun is setting.

8.  Expect anything!  I bet you didn't think you would ever see Tupac on stage with Snoop again, did you?

9.  A small cross body purse will be your best friend if you are a woman.

10.  I LOVE COACHELLA!!!!!!

Coachella Part 1

I am going to go out on a limb here and assume that everyone has heard of Coachella... As one of the biggest music festivals of the year Coachella's reputation precedes it.  While it is known as a hipster paradise, going to Coachella was for me much more about checking out some great musical acts and getting out into the sunshine.  I had dreamt about going for years and I can't even begin to tell you all how much fun I had.

I will post more about the festival in a couple of days but wanted to share a couple photos today to brighten up what has been a dreary, rainy Vancouver day.

Weekend in Victoria

Last weekend I spent three amazing days in my hometown.  I spent the weekend catching up with friends, going for walks by the water, and visiting my two favourite people in the world.  I took the ferry over and then lucked out with a Harbour Air seat sale and was able to fly home.  If you get the chance be sure to take the seaplane from downtown Vancouver to downtown Victoria - on a nice day there is no better way to travel.  Having grown up in Victoria I have to admit that I am surely a bit biased when I say that it is truly one of the most beautiful places in the world.   But, don't take my word for it - judge for yourself...

A little context for that last photo: 

When I was a kid my Papa had a trick kite quite like the one in the photo.  We would always spend Spring Break together as a family and he would bring it with him to fly in the windy Washington sky.  I remember as a kid thinking that kite was the coolest thing.  One thing to understand about my Papa is that he was born with what our family calls the 'fun gene'.  Simply put, this means that he was able to find the fun in just about anything.  He even once took my cousins and I on a Magical Mystery Trip to the dump.  Now, taking 3 kids to the city dump doesn't sound like fun to most people but my Papa turned that trip into one of the most amazing days of my childhood.  It was never about what he was doing but how much fun he could have doing it.  

I've been thinking a lot about that lately, about how some people are able to find the joy in even the most mundane tasks and how we should all aspire to be a little bit more like that.  I for one am guilty of getting so bogged down with obligations and responsibilities that I forget how lucky and blessed I am.  I need to get back in touch with my fun gene and that is exactly what I am going to do!

Have a great (and fun!) weekend - no matter what you are doing :)

R

Signs

On the drive up to Joshua Tree from our lovely rental house in Palm Springs, Missy and I began to notice that there were some pretty spectacular signs on the side of the road.  After passing quite a few beauties we decided that we needed to start capturing some on camera to show the rest of the world (i.e. share in the blogosphere).  This decision resulted in a few shouts of "pull over, we want to take pictures of that one right there" from the back seat of the car.  Luckily my cousin (aka the driver of the vehicle) is a pretty cool customer and didn't object even when he needed to bust out some fancy vehicle maneuvering to accommodate the request.  Thanks to him and my patient Aunt I present the following:

Beauties, right?  I think we can all agree that the world needs more signs like these...